Constitutional Court of South Africa

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of South Africa (english Constitutional Court of South Africa, Afrikaans Konstitusionele Hof van Suid -Afrika ), headquartered in Johannesburg, is the highest court in South Africa for the interpretation of the constitution of the country, as well as legal issues affecting the area of constitutional law. It originated with the entry into force of the Interim Constitution of 1993 and began its work in February 1995. The eleven judges of the Court shall serve for a period of twelve to 15 years and make their decisions with a simple majority.

History

The South African Constitutional Court was created after the end of apartheid, with the transitional constitution of 1993 and began its work in February 1995. Both by Gerrit Viljoen of the National Party, then Minister of Constitutional Development, as well as by the ANC with the discussion paper Bill of Rights of its Constitutional Committee held 1990-1991 on the call for a Constitutional Court of South Africa. It followed the pre-existing Supreme Court of the country with its audit department ( Supreme Court and Appellate Division ), who acted alongside decisions on constitutional questions as supreme court of appeal in other areas of law. Four of the first eleven judges were from accordance with the provisions of the Transitional Constitution the Supreme Court. The term of office of the judges of the first cast, all of which were appointed by President Nelson Mandela in consultation with the Cabinet and the President of the Supreme Court was, unlike the current practice seven years. At the end of 1994, all newly appointed judges took a trip to Germany, as the German Basic Law, in addition to the constitutions of Canada, India and Namibia constituted an essential basis for designing the new South African Constitution.

The first case with which the Court employed from February 1995 State v Makwanyane and Mchunu was the constitutionality of the death penalty. With the decision of the court on the case in June of the same year the death penalty was abolished in South Africa. The first judgment was delivered on 5 April 1995 in the case of State v Zuma, who was the constitutionality of a criminal proceedings determining the usability of confessions to content that was rejected by the court as a violation of the presumption of innocence. An important role came to the court in the adoption of the Constitution currently in force, which replaced the Interim Constitution of 1993. It had the task of to confirm the legality of the new constitution on the basis of 34 constitutional principles, to which the authors of the Interim Constitution had agreed. With the entry into force of the currently valid constitution of the country in February 1997, the Constitutional Court was in its then existing form exist. Themes repeated in procedure in the Court played a role and led to a series of policy decisions included the equality, the interpretation of fundamental rights, privacy, criminal procedure and the powers of the state and its bodies. In 2004, the Court referred to a new building in Johannesburg.

Operation

Composition

The Constitutional Court of South Africa consists of a presiding judge, his deputy and nine other judges who are appointed by the President of the country for a non-renewable term, the duration of which is the appointment of between twelve years and 15 years depending on the age. Basis of his decision is a select list that is created by the Judicial Service Commission. This committee is composed of, among others, the presiding judge of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal, the Minister of Justice, representatives of practicing lawyers and the jurisprudential high school teachers in the country and representatives of both chambers of the South African Parliament. In the event of a vacancy or an extended absence of a judge is up to the President on a proposal from the Minister of Justice and the presiding judge to appoint an Acting Judge representation. Currently, the Constitutional Court is composed of eight men and three women.

Jurisdiction

The Constitutional Court of the Republic of South Africa is the highest court in the land for the interpretation of the Constitution and Legal Affairs, relating to the area of constitutional law. This includes decisions on the constitutionality of laws and constitutional amendments on the constitutionally defined powers of state bodies as well as on the possible non-fulfillment of constitutional duties by the president or the parliament with. As a last resort for civil and criminal procedure act, the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa, which is bound like all other organs of the state and the case law of the Constitutional Court decisions.

Cases with which the Constitutional Court is concerned, are transferred normally by a higher court or by the Supreme Court of Appeal. The South African Constitution also provides people the opportunity to apply directly to the court; however, this occurs in practice only in exceptional cases. Parliament may cause the review of the constitutionality of a law directly to the Constitutional Court. The admissibility of a case or application, and thus the adoption of decision, the court itself decides One exception is the obligation to examine the decision of another court if this has established the unconstitutionality of a law.

Decisions

An essential legal basis for the decisions of the Constitutional Court are in addition to the South African Constitution, the human rights; In addition, the judges may include the legal situation in other democratic countries in your deliberations. At least eight judges must be involved in the hearings on a case; However, in practice, almost always, all eleven judges involved in the decisions. For a decision of the court a simple majority of the judges involved in a case is necessary reasons for the decision will be announced in a written verdict. The hearings take place in public.